Gluten Free 101 (GF101) classes are held on demand. Please
contact either Terri Murdoch or me for more information on classes in Little
Rock. LaDonna Brock has moved. She is now available for GF 101 in Hot
Springs. She can be contacted by email at ladonnakbrock@yahoo.comor by phone 501-262-4299

Meetings are at the Heart Hospital
Annex Building

Please feel free to bring in
home baked or store bought foods you would like to share with the group.

Each month Drug Emporium is
kindly donating GF food for us to try.

This room is located in a
building behind the main hospital. When
you drive in from the stoplight, you will be facing the hospital. Go to the
right. When you come to the stop sign, go left. This takes you behind the
hospital. The building with the Fireplace Room will be on the
right with a sign that says ANNEX. There is convenient parking in front of
the building and we can ignore the HR ONLY parking signs as it is after hours.

Arkansas Heart Hospital

1701 South Shackleford Road

Little Rock, AR 72211

Going south on I-430, take
exit 5 and turn right onto Shackleford. Hospital is on the right.

Going north on I-430, take
exit 5 and turn left onto Shackleford. Hospital is on the right.

As you walk through any store, it's obvious that it's Back
To School time, which can be tricky for a gluten free child. Just about
the time I got it figured out, my daughter moved up to middle school and the
rules changed, dramatically! In elementary school I bought a few
thermoses, put hot water in them and sent things like Amy's Macaroni, or GF
chicken nuggets that I warmed that morning in the toaster oven. I also
made my own version of Lunchables in a cute divided Tupperware container.
Now, we can only take things that are disposable in a brown paper sack.
When she was younger, I always called the party mom to find out what they
would be serving so I could send something similar. The party I
volunteered for at school was Valentine's Day so I could bring ice cream and
all the toppings, which the kids LOVED. I learned to keep cupcakes in my
freezer to send anywhere at the drop of a hat. Now, if I were to call a
mom to ask what they would be serving at a party, it would be the kiss of
death! But the older she gets, the more I realize that not eating at a
party isn't the end of the world. After all, we can always stop at
McDonald's on our way home for a hot fudge sundae!

*****

Heading to college in the fall? You might want to download
the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness GF guide to college. It can be
found on this
page along with other resources for children.

The CeliAct Blog also has some tips for a successful GF
college experience.click
here

Send your comments to the FDA

“The U.S. Food and
Drug Administration today reopened the comment period for its 2007 proposal on
labeling foods as “gluten-free.” The agency is also making available a safety
assessment of exposure to gluten for people with celiac disease (CD) and
invites comment on these additional data.

One of the criteria
proposed is that foods bearing the claim cannot contain 20 parts per million
(ppm) or more gluten. The agency based the proposal, in part, on the available
methods for gluten detection. The validated methods could not reliably detect
the amount of gluten in a food when the level was less than 20 ppm. The
threshold of less than 20 ppm also is similar to “gluten-free” labeling
standards used by many other countries.”

More mainstream foods are carrying the GF label. It was not
long ago that Nathan’s hotdogs were not gluten free.

Liana wrote, “I have found the best hot dog I have ever put
in my mouth. Nathan's hot dogs are
gluten free and they are the best. I found them in Kroger. Just thought you
would like to share. Also John Murrell
bologna also says Gluten free on the package.”

Many people have mentioned how good the new GF Rice Krispies taste. Sharon says, “Just
a note to mention the new gluten-free Rice Krispies. They taste like… Rice
Krispies!”

Sherri said that the Chocolate
Chex cereal can be found at Target on University.

GF Vacations

Mary wrote, “We just spent a week in Gulf Shores, AL and
thought we would share a couple of places there that are Gluten-free friendly.
Lulu's has a GF menu (also has other food allergy menu). Great food
and a fun place to wait for a table. We also found a place in Foley, AL
called the Mellow Mushroom that has GF pizza crusts. These were the BEST
pizzas we've ever had. It's located on the Hwy. coming into Gulf Shores
from Mobile. Just before you get to the outlet malls. Definitely
worth the drive from Gulf Shores. Most of the restaurants there have
steamed or grilled seafood that's safe. The grocery stores there had GF
sections with bread. The bread was Schar brand. Not quite as good
as Udi but worked for a week.”

(There are no Mellow Mushrooms in Central Arkansas but there
are some in NW AR.)

*****

Julianne said, “I am just filling you in on my recent GF
restaurant adventures while vacationing in Florida.

There was an awesome restaurant in Orlando- Seasons 52, with
a dedicated gluten free menu. Its menu is seasonal and based on the food in
season (as the name implies) with every dish under 500 calories.

I reluctantly ventured out in Jensen Beach, FL and went to a
restaurant I found on a GF iPhone app called Jan's place. When I asked for the GF
menu, no one had a clue and they were surprised to find that they had been
reviewed to have a GFmenu. The cook came out and talked to me about my needs
and we were able to get me the best omelet I've ever had (squash, zucchini,
broccoli, onions & tomatoes). When I left, the staff thanked me for
alerting them to GF because they had had 3 patrons that same day ask for it,
but no one took the time to educate them about it. As a result, they are
working on a GF menu.”

Brown ground meat in skillet and drain fat. Add both bottles
of spaghetti sauce and the spices and simmer very low. Cook lasagna noodles
exactly according to package directions. Drain and then let soak in cool water
until right before you use them. I blot them with a paper towel before I put
them in the casserole.

Spray a 13/9 pan with GF PAM or butter. Put a small layer of
meat/sauce mixture on the bottom and spread around. Lay 3 dried lasagna noodles
down in the dish. Add another layer of meat/sauce mixture. Top with spoons of
ricotta cheese. Spread the ricotta with a spoon. Add a mozzarella cheese layer.
Keep adding layers of noodles, meat/sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella. You can
also add in the Parmesan cheese if you want. The final layer needs to be
mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let cool
15-20 minutes or it will be runny.

*****

Sour Cream Pound Cake
from Terri

½ pound butter (2 sticks) at room temperature

3 C sugar

6 egg yolks, beaten

3 C Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour

Pinch salt

½ pint sour cream (8oz)

¼ tsp soda

6 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

1 tsp almond flavoring

Sift the flour 3 times with salt, set aside. Add the soda to
the sour cream, set aside.

Ninety-eight patients with anemia who were unresponsive to oral iron
supplementation were put on a GF diet even if they did not test positive for
celiac disease.Of these 98
people, 90(92%) showed improvement with the GF diet.

1. Serum for antibodies; 5% were positive

2. DQ2 and DQ8; 68% were positive

3. Histological (small intestinal damage); 13% were positive, with
13% more showing an inflammatory pattern, so 26%; all remaining 74% had no
visible damage to the intestines

All patients were placed on a gluten free diet (even if their tests
were negative) and followed for a median 3.6 years. Ninety patients (92%) improved on the diet. Of
those who did not show improvement, five people were not compliant with the
diet and 3 had other gastrointestinal pathology.

This is HUGE! You can see from the numbers that many people would
have "fallen through the cracks" with any of the tests:

blood test: 92% - 5% = 87%

genetic test: 92% - 68% = 24%

small intestinal damage: 92% - 26% = 66%

Gluten intolerance without CD is real and it can cause
severe health problems. Gluten damages more than the gut.

Introduction: refractory iron-deficiency anemia has a
multifactorial origin related to various gastrointestinal conditions, with
celiac disease plus malabsorption and IBD together with isolated gluten
intolerance being most common.Objectives: to determine the prevalence of serum,
genetic, and histological markers for gluten intolerance, and to analyze the
response to gluten withdrawal from the diet in these patients.Methods: a number
of patients with refractory anemia were prospectively and consecutively
enrolled. A protocol to measure serum (TGt-2), genetic (HLA-DQ2/DQ8), and
histological markers for celiac disease was applied. All followed a gluten-free
diet for a median 3.6 years. Sustained remission of anemia during follow-up was
interpreted as positive response.Results: ninety-eight patients (84% females)
with a mean age of 54 years were studied. Anti-TGt2 antibodies were positive in
5% of cases. A total of 67 cases (68%) were haplotype HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8 (+). We
found villous atrophy (Marsh III) in 13% of patients, and an inflammatory
pattern (Marsh I or II) in 13%. All remaining 72 patients (74%) had no histological
duodenal changes. Age, anemia duration, number of transfusions, number of
parenteral iron doses, and time on a gluten-free diet were all compared
according to the presence or absence of villous atrophy and HLA-DQ2/8
positivity, and no significant differences were found for any of the analyzed
variables. Response was positive in 92% of subjects. Conclusions: celiac
disease with villous atrophy is rarely a cause of refractory anemia. Gluten
intolerance with no histological lesions is seen in almost 75% of patients, and
therefore plays a relevant role in its development.